


gaussian summer

by midgardsormr



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24792292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midgardsormr/pseuds/midgardsormr
Summary: She first meets him one grey day in the summer of her first year in high school.
Relationships: Shimizu Kiyoko & Ushijima Wakatoshi
Kudos: 14





	gaussian summer

Kiyoko first meets him one grey day in the summer of her first year in high school.

It's raining, water soaking through her hair and summer dress and fogging up her glasses—the weatherman said it would be sunny today, so she left her umbrella at home.

But here she is under a bus stop, drenched with nowhere to go, no way to get home, nothing to do until the rain subsides. Perhaps she should just walk in the rain, she thinks, as she wipes the moisture off her lenses. She can't get any wetter anyway.

She hears the faint slosh of water and quick, heavy footfalls, and they end at the same bus stop. She steals a glance at whoever else is seeking refuge under the shade from the corner of her eye. 

He's tall, she first notes when her eyes are met with a shoulder instead of a head—Kiyoko knows she's rather tall for a girl, so to see anyone much taller than her is always strange. Her eyes travel south—he's wearing gym clothes and running shoes, and he's just as soaked as she is. He must not have expected the sudden downpour either if he's out for what's probably a jog.

Kiyoko finally turns her head to get a good look at her rainy day companion's profile. His eyes are sharp and focused—on what, she has no idea—and his dark hair is kept rather short. Drops of rain fall from the tips of his hair and onto his features—he's still young, but she can imagine him growing into them. He's handsome, she supposes. 

And very familiar.

He turns his head to look at her, and she's slightly taken aback—Kiyoko didn't even realize she was staring before then. She opens her mouth to apologize.

"Do you need something from me?" he asks before she can say anything. His tone seems condescending, but the look on his face suggests otherwise. Kiyoko isn't sure what to think.

"No," she finally says after some time. "I'm sorry; that was rude."

His expression changes, and she thinks he might be puzzled. "It's alright," is all he says.

The rain falls a little harder and drowns out the summer noise and the sounds of passing vehicles. Kiyoko stares at her feet and shifts in place as she wraps her arms around herself—the air has grown colder, and she only now realizes that her underwear can probably be seen through her damp clothes. 

She steals another glance at the boy next to her. He doesn't seem to be paying her any mind at all, and for that, she's grateful.

At the back of her mind, Kiyoko tries to remember where she's seen his face, but nothing comes. 

The day marches on and dims, and Kiyoko grows restless—so does the familiar boy next to her, she notices, as he constantly clenches and unclenches his fist—but eventually, even the rain lightens to a drizzle until it stops entirely. The town is quiet without the beating of the rain onto the pavement.

"I'll be going then," he says.

Kiyoko turns to her side and watches him jog away before she can respond. He hasn't dried up yet, and the puddles splash around his every step, but he seems largely unfazed by this.

Still struggling to recall where she had seen him, Kiyoko walks home.

—

She gets a cold after her unfortunate run-in with the weather, but she finally remembers him a few days later when she passes by a secondhand electronics shop. Old TVs take up the entire window display, and a recorded volleyball match from last year is on one screen. The video is muted, but she can almost hear the thundering slap of the ball against his palm, smashing it to the other side of the court and winning Shiratorizawa the game against Kitagawa-Daichi. The camera focuses on him clad in a white jersey with magenta accents, an underlined 1 etched onto his chest.

Ushijima Wakatoshi.

'The Young Giant', she had read once in a sports magazine that the volleyball team left lying around in the club room. She overheard them talking about him, saying that they'd never make it to nationals with him around.

"We probably won't even get past day one," she remembers one of them saying, but she doesn't dwell on it. She continues her walk through the quiet street. 

Summer has left her hometown largely empty—everyone's out somewhere to get away from the heat and the boredom the countryside brings. She likes it this way, empty streets and quiet nights; it makes her feel like she's in a world alone.

Save for another soul at the end of the road.

Kiyoko slows her pace as he comes into view, crouched down, broad back turned to her—he looks like he's tying his shoes. He stands up, back still turned to her, and Kiyoko comes to a halt behind the person towering over her, sandals flapping with each step. The sound seems to catch his attention. He turns around, and Kiyoko is met with familiar piercing olive green eyes.

"Ushijima Wakatoshi," she says absentmindedly.

Ushijima raises an eyebrow at her, and she feels heat rising to her cheeks. His expression eases. "The girl from the other day," he says.

Kiyoko’s eyes widen. She didn't think that he might remember her at all given that they barely spoke, and that he's quite popular while she's not really anybody. 

"Do you need something?" he asks. He asked then too, his tone now just as condescending, and she thought he might have been irritated with her. Looking at him now, eyes clear and lacking the contempt she expected, she thinks perhaps that's just the way he is.

She smiles. "No," she says. "I was just headed in this direction."

"I see," he says. He turns around, eyes still on her. "I'll be going then."

Kiyoko nods as he runs ahead of her. She stays there for a while watching him run farther away from her before she starts again on her walk. 

—

Kiyoko sees Ushijima every now and then after their second encounter, usually on her way to Family Mart—sometimes Lawson if she feels like going a bit farther. She'll catch him running on the other side of the street once she enters the convenience store, and once again when she's done with her business. 

He's never noticed her, as far as she can tell, but she doesn't mind—it's certainly refreshing, even, that he hasn't given her any lingering (suggestive, she could say) gazes in the limited time they've met. 

(She hates being looked at, if she could be honest with herself.)

Today, bluer and cooler than recent days, she decides it's worth going on the longer walk to Lawson. A soft breeze blows past her, carrying her dress and her hair with it—she never got around to getting that haircut, but it's nice feeling it flow freely in the wind. 

She's sure Ushijima is out running around today—he does his circuit around this time. Still, she hopes to see him, strange enough. He's become part of her largely uneventful summer.

**Author's Note:**

> bro it's ushijima freakin wakatoshi


End file.
